Signs from Down-Under

I was hoping today (Sunday) completely off but by evening information was flooding in and I have a feeling of extreme anxiety and dread in my chest

Cirrus clouds, climate change and geoengineering: What is it about cirrus clouds?

Rapid changes in New Zealand

I have been commenting a lot on how much cooler the Tasman Sea has been compared with last year (apart from close to the Australian coast)

I received the following photo from a friend this evening with the comment:

This doesn't look good. 2.7 - 4.5 C above normal in the Tasman

Being somewhat sceptical that things could change so quickly I decided to check for myself. Sure enough.

Pam and I went out for an early evening drive and we were commenting on how "normal" the skies seemed.

But then we got out of the car to see this.

By the time we got back home to get the camera it had all slightly dissipated and looked like this.

When I posted this on Facebook I got the following message:

" Yep.... that's how it started in California too. Wait until you start seeing all the rainbow colors in the clouds and the sundogs regularly."

I don't know anout "sundogs" but I know about rainbow colours.
As if on cue....

 

 

MetService explains 'amazing' optical phenomena spotted over Northland yesterday

MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said the rainbow was in fact a phenomena called a Circumhorizontal Arc.

"Basically what happens is sunlight enters the cloud and ice crystals in the cloud refract the light and form a rainbow," she said.

"It isn't a necessarily rare phenomenon, however the person observing it has to be standing in the right place at the right time.

"The sun needs to be behind them in order to see the refracted light, and of course you have to have colder clouds that contain ice crystals mixed in with some sunny spells!"

You see! It's got a name so is quite natural!

 

And then, what is this?!!

Silly comment of the day:

"That is so weird, they need to name it so that we don't speculate and start a darn conspiracy theory."

****
Meanwhile, a large tornado ripped through South Canterbury.

It may seem like nothing to Americans but this is totally unprecedented for South Canterbury

Large tornado spotted in South Canterbury - 'It just grew bigger and bigger'

..

Video sent to 1 NEWS shows the large funnel of dirt sweeping across farmland just south of Rakaia.

Lily Tworogal, who took one of the videos, says she has never seen anything like it.

“Certainly not in New Zealand!” she says.

She was driving north to Christchurch on a family trip when she and her father spotted the tornado.

“First it was a swirl of dust and then just grew bigger and bigger,” she says.

***

Meanwhile in Antarctica

Looks like the sea ice holding iceberg A68 is melting fast!

From NASA Worldview 11/17/18